A Bipartisan Vehicle for Change: Proposing a Novel Investigative Framework Designed to Improve and Empower Congressional Investigations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
McKay Smith ◽  
Alan Wehbé
Keyword(s):  
Congressional Investigations

Investigating the President

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas L. Kriner ◽  
Eric Schickler
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Political Theater ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Presidential Power ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Partisan Polarization ◽  
Approval Rating ◽  
Congressional Investigations ◽  
Over Time

Although congressional investigations have provided some of the most dramatic moments in American political history, they have often been dismissed as mere political theater. But these investigations are far more than grandstanding. This book shows that congressional investigations are a powerful tool for members of Congress to counter presidential aggrandizement. By shining a light on alleged executive wrongdoing, investigations can exert significant pressure on the president and materially affect policy outcomes. This book constructs the most comprehensive overview of congressional investigative oversight to date, analyzing nearly 13,000 days of hearings, spanning more than a century, from 1898 through 2014. The book examines the forces driving investigative power over time and across chambers, and identifies how hearings might influence the president’s strategic calculations through the erosion of the president’s public approval rating, and uncover the pathways through which investigations have shaped public policy. Put simply, by bringing significant political pressure to bear on the president, investigations often afford Congress a blunt, but effective check on presidential power—without the need to worry about veto threats or other hurdles such as Senate filibusters. In an era of intense partisan polarization and institutional dysfunction, the book delves into the dynamics of congressional investigations and how Congress leverages this tool to counterbalance presidential power.

The Direct Influence of Congressional Investigations on Policy Outcomes

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas L. Kriner ◽  
Eric Schickler
Keyword(s):  
Executive Branch ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Direct Influence ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
White House ◽  
Legislative Action ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Specific Policy ◽  
Congressional Investigations ◽  
Congressional Action

This chapter focuses on two direct pathways through which congressional investigations can produce concrete changes in the specific policy area targeted by the investigation. First, investigations may provide the impetus for new legislation that otherwise would not have passed in its absence. Investigative hearings can spur congressional action and generate political pressure on the president and members of his party to vote for and sign legislation that they may have otherwise resisted through the filibuster or veto. Second, even when investigations are not followed by legislative action compelling the administration to change its behavior, high-profile committee inquiries into executive-branch actions may bring enough political pressure to bear on the White House that it opts to make concessions rather than continue a bruising public fight with the legislature.

Investigations and Public Opinion

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas L. Kriner ◽  
Eric Schickler
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
General Mechanism ◽  
American People ◽  
The Public ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Congressional Investigations ◽  
The Empirical Analysis ◽  
Investigative Activity

This chapter proposes and empirically tests a general mechanism through which congressional investigative activity could affect presidential behavior and policy making more broadly: by influencing the president’s well of support among the American people. It proceeds in four parts. First, it describes two mechanisms through which committee investigations of executive misconduct are well positioned to shape levels of public support for the president. The empirical analysis then begins by asking a basic, but essential pre-cursor question: does the public generally support Congress employing its investigative powers to uncover and pursue allegations of abuse of power by the executive branch? Having answered this question in the affirmative, the analysis continues by merging the database of congressional investigative activity described in Chapter 2 with more than sixty years of public opinion data measuring support for the president. The chapter then presents the results of several original survey experiments that isolate the influence of congressional investigations on public opinion independent of potential confounding factors.

The 1950s: Part Two

2019 ◽  
pp. 195-248
Author(s):  
Steven K. Green
Keyword(s):  
Red Scare ◽  
Religious Revival ◽  
Billy Graham ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Congressional Investigations ◽  
The Church

This chapter continues with the examination of the church–state events of the 1950s. It begins with the Protestant–Catholic tensions associated with the Red Scare and the congressional investigations into communism, particularly the controversy surrounding Catholic support for the activities of Senator Joseph McCarthy. It continues with an examination of a thawing of religious tensions brought about by the religious revival of the 1950s and the growth of ecumenism and religious cooperation. This section focuses on the impact of three religious figures: Bishop Fulton Sheen, Billy Graham, and Norman Vincent Peale. The chapter concludes with an examination of the Protestant opposition to the candidacy of John F. Kennedy for U.S. president, an effort that was led by Graham, Peale, and POAU.

The Silicone Gel Breast Implant Controversy—A Chronology of Recent Regulations and Decisions

1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-93
Author(s):  
Howard A. Tobin
Keyword(s):  
Drug Administration ◽  
Breast Implant ◽  
Breast Implants ◽  
Press Coverage ◽  
Silicone Breast Implants ◽  
Consumer Activism ◽  
Silicone Gel ◽  
Congressional Investigations ◽  
Regulatory Actions

This article summarizes the regulatory actions of the Food & Drug Administration as related to gel-filled silicone breast implants. It also relates the actions to the influences of outside forces such as press coverage, congressional investigations, and consumer activism.

The Grand Inquest: The Story of Congressional Investigations

1956 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 321
Author(s):  
Hilliard A. Gardiner ◽  
T. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Congressional Investigations

Grand Inquest; The Story of Congressional Investigations

1956 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 585
Author(s):  
George B. Galloway ◽  
Telford Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Congressional Investigations
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